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Liberals close in on SA: Newspoll

The Liberals are closing in on South Australia - Labor's last-held mainland state - according to the latest Newspoll.

With federal Labor heading towards a September 14 election, primary support for the party's South Australian branch has slumped to 33 per cent, the survey shows.

Conducted over the past month and published in The Australian on Monday, the poll shows primary vote support for Labor dipped from 37 per cent in a quarterly October-December 2012 survey to 33 per cent in March, while Liberal support rose from 40 to 43 per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Liberal Party meanwhile leads Labor 54 to 46 per cent.

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The results come eight weeks after the state Liberal leadership changed from Isobel Redmond to Steven Marshall.

Support for Labor, which has held power in South Australia since 2002, now stands 4.5 percentage points lower than when it narrowly retained office at the 2010 election.

The Australian said if the result was replicated at the next state election, due next March, Labor would lose five MPs in marginal electorates and its majority in the 47-seat House of Assembly.